105 tourism slogans from around the world #WTM12

Country slogans and tourism taglines – how can they say so very little and yet sometimes so much? I’ve posted my bemusement with these fascinating little one-liners that marketers use to ‘sell’ or position a destination before (after snapping 44 slogans at the 2009 World Travel Market).

This year, I decided it was time for an update. So here, after wandering the vast length and breadth of WTM 2012, are 105 slogans, 26 country logos (or fonts) and 7 regional taglines collected at the World Travel Market 2012. Slideshow above, text below. I’ve bolded up the ones I like. Enjoy!

Mexico, mariachi and massive hats

More WTM 2012 music and dance acts: Music and dance from around the World Travel Market

Israeli hang drum music at WTM 2012

Djembe and hang drum sounding lovely on the Israel stand at the World Travel Market 2012.

More WTM 2012 music and dance acts: Music and dance from around the World Travel Market

Folk music and dance from Kazakhstan

One of the things I like about going to World Travel Market is the number of random acts of music, dance and giant ‘It’s a knockout’ style beasties wandering the inter-continental aisles. Here’s what Kazakhstan had going on…

More WTM 2012 music and dance acts: Music and dance from around the World Travel Market

Where travel and corruption go hand in hand…

Prague and Vienna may not be the first places that spring to mind when you think of corruption but a tour company exhibiting at the 2012 World Travel Market (WTM) is putting them on the map with ‘point the finger’ tourism. Scroll down for tour details and prices.

Tram 94, Brussels

One of the things that makes me feel more of a traveller and less of a tourist is getting to grips with local public transport. It beats resorting to costly cabs or, at the other extreme, getting tired from endless walking. So here is just a little lo-fi video of what it’s like to ride the Brussels tram, from Louise to Stade (near the Atomium). Our ride on tram line 94 took about an hour, with plenty of sights at the start before it headed into the suburbs (equally fascinating in their own way).

How to get a ticket
You can either buy a Brussels Card, which gives free transport and lots of tourism discounts for the validity of the card. Or various travel cards and single tickets are available at main stations; there are also individual ticket machines at tram stops. With all of these you have to validate your ticket when you board or enter the transport system.

BBQ duck in a hut

Grilled in a Finnish kota or wooden hut with a central barbecue. Filmed at Camping des Blats in Cantal, France (more on which below).

A mountain refuge in the Cantal

It took about an hour to walk up to Meije Coste – one of Cantal’s small, old mountain refuges at 1440m up, near Le Lorian and with views over the Plomb du Cantal highest peak.

I ran low on battery and was huffing and puffing with the effort so I ended up taking stills (more pics below) – but you get the idea of the beautiful natural surroundings.

Le Lioran ski resort and Chez Lucy’s choc pud

I can’t ski so I took the opportunity to film life at the top of the cable car at Le Lioran ski resort in Cantal. This little film features a mountain rescue, some aerial skier shots and the cable car ride back down to the valley.

Resort info: Le Lioran

Trip notes:

• Chez Lucy near the car park at Le Lioran is run by a friendly English woman. Lucy is originally from Cornwall, has a big smile and looks quite a bit like the former model turned Emmerdale actress, Lorraine Chase.

• Lunch at Chez Lucy was reasonably priced with plenty of stodge to fuel the skiing. Cheese soup! (Soupe au fromage) – grated cheese and stock (5’50 euros). Tartiflette Auvergnette au St Nectaire, cheese and potatoes (11 euros). Fondant au chocolat – like a Gü, melted brownie (4’80 euros). This choc pudding, though not the fanciest, was the tastiest of the whole trip for me.

• Decor was fairly functional but also cosy, cottagey and warm.

Snowshoeing Cantal: Europe’s biggest volcano

This is the one-line pitch that got my commission to write on the Cantal region of France. Unfortunately, one crucial element – the snow – has been a no-show this week with none falling in this area of the Auvergne since December.

The result is hard, compacted snow and snowshoeing that delivers maximum noisy crunch over ambient soft tread. Turn up the volume of this one-minute video of our hike to the Puy Mary peak to appreciate the full effect of our snowshoe (aka raquettes) experience in Cantal.

So what happens when there is no snow?

• The PR lady gives a Gallic shrug (or garlic shrug, as my phone’s auto-correct has it) and says the following a lot: “Imagine this with snow…”
• The auberge owner gives a slideshow of absolutely stunning images of snowy nature. We then go outside in the drizzle and fog.
• The local ski resort Le Lorian puts on their artificial snow-making machines at full blast to cover the lower pistes.

Things I have learnt about snowshoeing

• Take long steps – or you catch one snowshoe in the other. It feels a little like walking in giant flipflops as the heel end is loose (as shown in the video around 40-second mark).
• Wear layers as it can get quite hot with the exercise. Bring sunglasses and always wear sunscreen.
• If you get the chance to snowshoe at night by the full moon, do it. Walking around mountains in the dark is both beautiful and exhilarating.
• It’s the perfect sport for the non-skilled and not-too-fit – it is pretty aerobic but, unlike skiing with all its advance prep, all you have to do is know how to walk.
• Bring water – walking on raquettes in the high mountains gets your pulses racing but the dry, cool air is like breathing in ice cubes.